Review: Post Office Wi-Fi Squad

Technology is taking over our homes to a degree which makes it near impossible to get by without a good internet connection. But if you’re not tech savvy getting your internet service up and running to its full potential can be a challenge, this is where the Post Office Wi-Fi Squad can help.

What is the Wi-Fi Squad?

The Wi-Fi Squad comprise of a team of 500 broadband experts across the UK who can come to your home by appointment and spend up to an hour installing your router, optimising your connection, checking your security setting, setting up your network, and offering help and support as needed.

Why I needed help from the Wi-Fi Squad

As I’m quite tech savvy I wouldn’t usually see myself as the target market for a service like the Wi-Fi squad, however, I had recently had an experience with a broadband supplier which made me think twice about this.

After changing suppliers from Sky to Relish, I found that every evening at 8pm my broadband speeds would drop from around 20mps to nothing. This was obviously unacceptable, but despite investigating the issue for several weeks Relish were unable to identify a cause and as a result I cancelled my account with them and switched to Post Office broadband.

Although I was certain that switching was the right course of action, Relish had advised me that I would likely have exactly the same issue regardless of who supplied my broadband. With this in mind, I was eager to see if the Wi-Fi Squad experts would be able to solve the mystery of the disappearing Wi-Fi speeds.

The booking experience

The Wi-Fi Squad operate between Monday and Saturday which makes it fairly easy to find an appointment to suit your lifestyle. In my case the booking team phoned me around a week before my internet was due to go live and as a result was able to book the appointment for the following day.

This was great as it meant that if I did have any issues I would receive help more or less straight away. The booking was then followed up with an email confirmation, which I appreciated as in my experience it’s all too easy for mistakes to be made on either sides when you agree things without written confirmation.

My experience of the Wi-Fi Squad

Whenever I review a service which sends representatives to my home, I ask myself “would I be comfortable with this person visiting my elderly aunt?”.

My Wi-Fi Squad engineer arrived promptly after calling ahead to ensure I was expecting him, and throughout the visit he was polite, courteous, and friendly. He ensured that he covered his shoes with dirt covers before entering my home and asked permission before walking around the house to check the Wi-Fi signal. I’m sure that had he been visiting my elderly aunt she would have insisted on adopting him!

Once the engineer had unpacked a few pieces of equipment he was ready to begin but instead of launching into a standard checklist of tasks, he took some time to discuss what I needed help with, so that he could tailor the service to my needs. As a result, we were both happy for him to skip past the basic router and gadget set-up and move straight onto the pressing concern of my Wi-Fi speeds.

The engineer started with some trouble shooting to try and pin-point the cause of the problem. This involved identifying whether my location in the house had an effect, checking how many other routers are in the area, checking the channel my router was using and changing it to one with less traffic, and checking for interference from other electricals in the house such as Bluetooth devices and baby monitors.

Luckily, after weeks of trying to resolve my speed issue to no avail, I was able to provide all the information the Wi-Fi Squad engineer needed in order to diagnose the problem as external interference from someone nearby using either a CB radio or something similar.

This did seem a very plausible explanation which was almost obvious once he had suggested it. The engineer went on to explain that it would be difficult to identify who was causing the interference and that there were no regulations he knew of that could be used to prevent that person using their equipment, although he thought that contacting the council would be a start. However, luckily this wouldn’t be necessary as there was a far easier way to resolve my problem.

Unlike my previous Wi-Fi router, my Post Office router was capable of broadcasting in both the standard 2.5mhz and the newer 5mhz, which is far more resilient to interference. The Wi-Fi Squad engineer quickly gave a demonstration of how to connect my devices via the 5mhz bandwidth which made an instant difference to my Wi-Fi speed, even during the middle of the day.

The engineer concluded his visit by checking that my Wi-Fi speeds were up to scratch and checking whether there was anything further he could do.

Thanks to my Wi-Fi squad engineer’s advice and assistance I was able to resolve a problem which had left my previous supplier stumped, and my Wi-Fi speeds have exceeded my expectations ever since!

Who would a Wi-Fi Squad engineer visit benefit most?

After my experience with the Wi-Fi Squad I feel that there are two groups of people who would most benefit from the Wi-Fi Squad.

Those who are not tech savvy

Customers who are less confident with computers and gadgets could benefit greatly from having a Wi-Fi Squad engineer assist them to set-up and understand their Wi-Fi.

My Grandad was a rather extreme example of someone in this group. He once called me late at night asking why he couldn’t get his word processor to work. It took me half an hour to realise that he needed to turn the computer on!

Those who are tech savvy but have a specific Wi-Fi problem

Customers who are confident with technology but are experiencing Wi-Fi issues that they just can’t explain.

It’s never fun being in this group as if you think of yourself as a bit of a techy, accepting that you’re stumped is rather frustrating. But receiving help from someone who’s first words aren’t “Have you turned it off and on again” is priceless!

Conclusion

I was very pleasantly surprised by my experience of the Wi-Fi Squad. In all honesty, I wasn’t entirely sure that it would be worthwhile. I was fairly confident that I had tried everything possible to resolve my Wi-Fi woes, but the Wi-Fi Squad engineer was far more knowledgeable than I had expected and was able to drill down to the rout of the problem in no time at all. As a result, I’m very glad that I had the opportunity to try out this service and I would definitely recommend it.

How to book the Wi-Fi Squad.

You can make a booking by phoning 0800 121 7035. Visits are just £40 until 31st January 2018!

**This post was sponsored by Post Office broadband. All opinions are my own.

You may also like

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Hi, I'm Grumpy Mum, a 30 something mum of one and step-mum of two, from Swindon in Wiltshire.
In November 2016 I set up this blog as a place to share my thoughts, reviews and stories from the Grumpy household.
While I started as a hobby, I fell in love with writing and soon began to make it my day job.
Now, in addition to writing my blog for pleasure, I have my own freelance writing business (www.cleversquiggle.co.uk) and enjoy the flexibility of looking after my daughter by day and writing by night.